Australian battery startup Allegro Energy has raised A$17.5 million in a Series A funding from new and existing investors.
US climate change fund The Grantham Foundation led the funding round, supported by US fund Lightbank, existing investor Origin Energy, and British funds Melt Ventures and Impact Ventures.
Newcastle-based Allegro has developed water-based Redox Flow Batteries (RFB) to store renewable energy and is looking to build an 800 KWh pilot storage facility at Origin Energy's Eraring site in New South Wales, Australia, later this year.
Origin acquired a five percent equity stake in Allegro in June last year, aiming to support phased development of 60 MWh pilot RFB capacity at its own facilities. The company has option to support Allegro all the way through to funding its first gigafactory.
In a statement, Allegro co-founder and CEO Dr Thomas Nann said the Series A funds were a mix of strategic and growth capital for the company. "We are thrilled to be among the companies to have been given global recognition by The Grantham Foundation while also successfully drawing critical local capital and strategic support from some of the leading names in the renewable energy space," he said, adding: "These funds will help us rapidly accelerate our manufacturing capacity."
Allegro's RFB technology is water-based, which the company says makes them "safer and more environmentally friendly option than other battery technologies". The batteries contain no scarce materials, and all key components are recyclable, Allegro says. The company also claims its RFBs and supercapacitors are non-flammable and non-corrosive, besides being cheaper than competing technologies.